The High Cost of Good Hand Tools

In my youth, one reason many builders of fine furniture, amateur and professional alike, turned to hand tools was economy. Hand tools were much cheaper

Two Bailey #04 1/2 smoothing planes

than machinery. Stanley probably made more hand tools than any other company, having plants in New Britain, Connecticut and England. The most notable hand tool they manufactured was Bailey Planes. The company bought Leonard Bailey out in 1869 and hired him to supervise production. Stanley made prodigious numbers of Bailey planes between 1869 and the early 1960s. The design set a high-water mark for hand planes and Bailey’s numbering system, sizes 01 through 08 (pronounced Oh and the number) became the de facto standard for the entire woodworking industry. Smoothing planes are 01 though 04; jack planes are number 05, with 07 and 08 being jointers. In 1923, an 05 jack plane sold for $6.05.

In 1898, Stanley introduced an even better plane, the Bedrock. This used the same numbering system, but a 6 preceded the number to denote the Bedrock Line. In the very early 20tth century, the cheeks of the 600 Bedrock Line were squared to further distinguish them from the Bailey Line. Stanley ceased production of the Bedrock in 1943, but craftsmen use and treasure them to this day. Today at least three manufacturers make slavish copies of Bedrock planes. In 1923, a 605 Bedrock jack plane sold for $6.75.

Classic Bailey #05 (foreground); classic Bedrock #605 (back). Both made during the 1920s.

When I was getting serious about woodworking in the 1970s, plane manufacture had sunk to an all-time low. You could not buy a usable plane anymore. But Baileys abounded at yard sales and flea markets for between $5 and $25. Bedrocks went for $5 to $75, depending on whether the seller realized that Bedrocks were premium merchandise. This happy state of affairs made a used high quality classic cheaper than a new piece of junk. There are those who will only buy new, and they chafed under what was available.

As woodworking grew as a hobby, the demand for decent hand planes became sufficient that companies started making decent ones again. Tom Lie-Nielsen was the first to realize this need and started making a good Bedrock reproduction. Today we are blessed with a host of companies making really good planes; however, they are not cheap!

If we factor in inflation for our 1923 prices from Stanley Catalogue Number 120, we find our $6.05 Bailey would cost $80.49 today and the $6.75 Bedrock would cost $89.80. This tells us that planes, and I think hand tools in general, have gotten significantly more expensive. A 05 Lie-Nielsen Jack today costs $325, which is 3.6 times the price of our 1923 Bedrock.

Some of this price difference can be attributed to manufacturing quantities. As you make more of any product, quantities of scale are reached that significantly reduce manufacturing cost. In the 1920s, Stanley was making planes in the hundreds of thousands, while any manufacturer today is making thousands at best. This would account for part of the price increase. Another factor is that planes, and many other hand tools, are cast iron. The cost for a foundry to meet EPA environmental standards, which are needed if the world is to go on, is significant. Some of the more attractive prices for hand planes may be due to manufacture in Asia, where manufacturing air quality standards are lower than in the U.S.

The good news, I think, is that cost of machinery has seen similar price increases, so hand tools are still a good alternative. What is more: they are safer, quiet and don’t need a power cord. Used planes do not abound anymore, but are still quite available. A decent Bailey can still be purchased for less than $100, making it a very good buy indeed.

http://woodturnin.tumblr.com/ Eric

As someone who grew up in the 80s I had no idea that costs on quality tools had risen that much. I tend to assume that costs are always going down, but I guess that’s not the case in every situation.

Mike

Consider that many a woodworker has a collection of a few treasured tools, placed in prominent display in a shop or a living room. Does he increase the cost of well made tools by paying what may appear to be inflated prices? Isn’t this a case of too few tools chased by too many dollars? Generally, a manufacturer will sell at the highest price given the pace of production. When inventory is falling, he would raise his prices. And since he is limited in production, the demand for well made tool will increase. On the opposite side of the coin, manufacturers need a market and the collector makes up a part of this market, making it possible for all craftsmen needing the tool to benefit. Thank goodness for the Lie-Nielsen’s of the world who risk the high cost of design, implementation, and marketing to bring forth such fine tools. Someday, just maybe….

Woodworking Tools

It seems like everything in today’s market have seen a major increase in price except for wadges of course. I call it a race to the bottom. Any craftsmen in woodworking would want to provide the best quality for their clients, so they would try and purchase the highest quality tool to complete the task. Then would charge that back to the client thus repeating the circle and well eventually everyone gets priced right out of the market. I would like to say that all jobs warrant the best wood working tools but you see either two things in the industry, the absolute best which comes at a tailored price. Or the flyby nights getting work from clients who are only considered about one thing. Price.

TradeMachines

Any person interested in woodworking knows how important the tools are and with that how high the costs could be, as commented before, they will try to charge the maximum amount and even that the tool has an excellent quality it won’t worth the purchase. For this and much other reasons we created a site to find many used tools and machinery because not all the people is based on the price and good stuff with good quality could be found.